A new mobile app, coming to you free from the ISMA, will allow you to discuss a patient referral with a colleague using your smartphone or tablet device. Called DocbookMD, this HIPAA-secure application can be downloaded in four steps and comes with directories for both Indiana physicians and pharmacies. Phone and fax numbers will be at your fingertips.

DocbookMD stores no information on your device; all encrypted data is saved on the DocbookMD server. Your smartphone, tablet, iPad or mini is used only for viewing. And photos can be part of any communication.

Pediatrician Vicki Roe, M.D., would like to see more specialists in her referral network become DocbookMD users. “Usually we have to call and try to find a time when both of us can talk on the phone if we have a patient we want seen more urgently than their staff has authority to schedule. That can really slow both of us down, get us behind in the office and cause interruptions,” she explained. “If the specialist was set up for DocBookMD, we could message back and forth during downtime and still get all but the most urgent matters taken care of within a few hours.”

At a time when attention is focusing on care coordination, DocbookMD will help you improve transitions in care. Secure messages can keep the primary care physician and any specialists up to date about a patient’s progress. Receive texts from radiologists advising you when films or reports are ready to be viewed. Access your patients’ discharge summaries from the hospital so you are promptly informed.

Once you are registered as a DocbookMD user, you can invite ISMA physicians in your group, your referral network and your hospital to join you, saving everyone time and resources. Indiana already has nearly 400 registered DocbookMD users, and more than 14,000 physicians across the U.S. are now using the app.

Additional key featuresAttach images – Do you sometimes need to see an EKG tracing, X-ray or want a picture of a patient’s wound or skin rash? With DocbookMD, there’s no more faxing with the poor quality it produces. You can attach a high-resolution image – in fact, up to four images – to any DocbookMD message for easier, more informed consultations.

Connect quickly – The ISMA understands how many calls and messages you receive in a day – some more important than others. That’s why the messages you’ll receive from other physicians via DocbookMD will arrive with a unique ring tone making them readily recognizable. Save time when you stop going through staff members to communicate with their physicians -- and even communicate with several physicians at once.

Disconnect when you want – You’ll also enjoy being able to turn off DocbookMD when you’re on vacation, not on call or otherwise off duty.

A reminder about securityWhile email within a hospital or physician office may be secure, most email is not. If unencrypted, email is not HIPAA-compliant, which means it violates federal law. And remember, even if your email is secure, the recipient of your message must also have secure email. That leaves out Hotmail and Gmail accounts!

Do you have an electronic health record (EHR) at your practice? Consider that very soon messages received via DocbookMD can be securely copied into your EHR or health information exchange (HIE), again saving you time and resources. (Read an upcoming issue of ISMA Reports for more about DocbookMD and HIEs.)

Ready to get started?Make a visit to the DocbookMD website to learn more and have your questions answered.

Then watch for an email message inviting you to join DocbookMD. The email address with the invitation will be the one the ISMA currently has on file for you. If you do not receive an email by May 20, or prefer to use a different email address for DocbookMD, send an email to Vicki Riley in the ISMA’s Membership Department (vriley@ismanet.org) with your preferred email address.

You’ll need your iTunes App store or Android Market/Google Play password to register for DocbookMD. Once you’ve downloaded the app, click on “I am new to DocbookMD” and then:

Enter your email address

Create a new password

Complete the HIPAA agreement

Check email for verification link from DocbookMD

Log in with your confirmed email and password and when asked to “push notifications” answer yes. Now you are ready to send your first message.

When you want to learn more about the various features of this new tool, see a series of videos available here.